The salaries of HR professionals grew at nearly twice the national average last year, with HR business partners seeing the heftiest increases due to high demand.
Recruitment consultancy Robert Walters’ 2012 Salary Survey revealed that the salaries of permanent UK HR staff grew by an average of 2.6% year-on-year compared with only 1.5% in other industries.
Lawyers also saw their wages increase by an average of 2.4%, but the pay of compliance professionals jumped by four times that to 9.6%, while HR professionals working in commercial businesses experienced salary hikes of a huge 10.8%.
Nonetheless, wages in the financial services space fell by 3.5% during the same period, rose by only 0.3% in Birmingham and were flat in Manchester.
Kate Francis, Robert Walters’ HR recruitment manager, said: “Our results reveal a mixed picture, which is to be expected given that market sentiment remains cautious in many areas. But it is encouraging that, overall, HR salaries are increasing.”
This was especially true of HR business partners working in commerce and industry in particular. The average wage here is now about £100,000 per annum compared with £85,000 a year ago.
“Reward specialists have also been sought after and salaries have risen marginally for these individuals too. We expect this to continue to be the case throughout 2012 as employers attempt to ensure they are rewarding the right people in their organisations,” Francis said.
